With the ceasefire still in effect, Carl, Donut, Louis, and Britney prepare to leave through the upgraded Doggie Door system and travel from the college entrance toward Katia’s personal space. Their immediate goal is to physically enlist allies while Katia and Elle coordinate through chats. Samantha is ordered to stay behind, while Mongo and Sir Rendlegore come along, already bonding despite Donut’s annoyance.

Before leaving, Donut notices Louis wearing an enchanted shirt from the Dungeon Sidekicks show. The shirt depicts an unauthorized cartoon of Donut’s backside and advertises the Donut Holes fan group, which enrages Donut when Zev confirms the merchandise is officially licensed but not currently earning Donut money. Carl treats the incident as a distraction and pushes the group back toward the urgent task of finding Ferdinand and Juice Box.

The group exits into the Larracos College of Magic and Carl finally sees the upper city in detail: bright towers, flowers, observatories, lecture halls, and busy NPC districts. As they descend, Carl observes civilians and college NPCs preparing for war rather than passively awaiting destruction. The sight reinforces that this Faction Wars cycle is different because Larracos’s NPC population is fighting back from the beginning.

At the base of the stairs, the group meets War Leader Arief, a young Semeru dwarf officer commanding the Larracos Defense Force Infantry. Arief greets Carl and Donut respectfully, feeds Mongo and Rend, and asks to speak tactics with the crawler team. Carl’s inspection reveals the tragic history of the Semeru dwarves: Larracos was once their flourishing home, their search for the gods led to the discovery of the All Tree’s roots, and Scolopendra’s attack nearly exterminated them, leaving Arief weakened by a Despondent debuff because his goddess is dead.

Donut privately worries whether Arief knows Carl and Katia helped flood the city or that Katia and Paz killed the goddess, and Carl warns Donut not to mention it. Arief then explains that Juice Box wants Carl’s private presence before a larger strategic meeting with Ferdinand. He also addresses Louis as general and reveals Juice Box wants to formalize the truce in the traditional way: through marriage, leaving Louis stunned.